Rectify: Fix the mistake that took away DISID's enforcement ability

Elected officials must act quickly to rectify a more than decade-old failure that has left the local government without the ability to ensure compliance with the federal Americans with Disability Act.

When the Department of Integrated Services for Individuals with Disabilities was created by local law in 1997, part of its mission was to ensure that businesses and government agencies meet the requirements of the federal legislation.

The bungling of lawmakers in 2001, however, effectively removed the ability of the agency to enforce policies and levy penalties for compliance failures. And to compound the problem, every Legislature since that time has failed to correct the mistake. Almost 12 years later, the agency lacks enforcement authority, which could open the local government to a lawsuit, according to Zeni Natividad, the agency's Division of Evaluation, Enforcement and Compliance grant administrator.

In addition to this longstanding failure, federal grant money for enforcement will expire at the end of this year. If elected officials fail to fix the law and ensure adequate funding for the agency to inspect and enforce the Americans with Disabilities Act, the only person who could do that job is the director of the Department of Integrated Services for Individuals with Disabilities.

This problem again serves to highlight that elected officials don't take the needs and rights of people with disabilities seriously. Too often this segment of our population has been ignored, most notably when a federal court had to step in to ensure the local government provided basic levels of service to adults with mental health disabilities.

This has to change. Elected officials must ensure that people with disabilities are treated equally. And the local government must have an agency that ensures the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act are followed, in both the private and government sectors.

Sen. Dennis Rodriguez Jr. said he plans to introduce legislation to fix the mistake made back in 2001. We call on all lawmakers to ensure this bill is expedited, and on the governor to sign it into law once it's been passed.